Parrascope

THE PARRASCOPE SOLUTION

Parrascope is a web application that allows states to manage ARRA reporting data and generate the required quarterly reports.

Parrascope replaces the federal spreadsheet templates with a full management system that allows states to build a network of sub-recipients and vendors that help simplify reporting.

Level One Technologies, the creators of Parrascope, signed a contract to co-develop the system with the state of Wyoming in August of 2009. It will be made available to a select group of additional states throughout 2010.

It will be expanded beyond ARRA to become a full grant management solution featuring a custom RFP creation and bid collection module.

THE STIMULUS BILL: ARRA

On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). As a condition of receiving funds, the law stipulates that recipients must provide quarterly updates on spending, project progress, and the impact on jobs created or saved.

Reports must be submitted to FederalReporting.gov within 10 days of the end of each quarter. The federal government provides three methods to report this data: an excel spreadsheet, an html webform, and an advanced XML export. None of these methods help gather the data or verify its accuracy. The result is a costly, error prone, and inefficient process for states and their sub-recipients. Parrascope eliminates these problems and provides states with a tool to easily manage data and generate reports that are both highly accurate and efficient.

Parrascope generates XML files that are submitted by a state (also on behalf of their sub-recipients) to FederalReporting.gov for review. Once approved, the final quarterly data is posted on Recovery.gov.

LEVEL ONE TECHNOLOGIES

Level One Technologies is a Missouri corporation that produces web based applications mainly for industrial use. Its flagship solution, Epay Manager, is an electronic invoice payment and presentment solution used by the most recognizable names in the transportation industry. It has benefitted from ongoing development since 2000, and is the foundation for Parrascope.

The Office of Administration for the state of Missouri reviewed Epay Manager in the spring of 2009, and asked Level One to evaluate how quickly it could convert the 9 years of Epay development into a functional tracking and reporting application for ARRA. Level One determined that with a development partner, the conversion could be accomplished within a few months. While Missouri pondered its options, many other states expressed interest in using Parrascope.

Wyoming became the first state agree to a co-development arrangement, locking itself into one year of full customization benefits. The beta system will begin live reporting for Wyoming for the final quarter of 2009.